17-Year NBA Veteran's Bold Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Statement

With just six days remaining in the NBA's regular season, teams are jockeying for positional playoff seeding in hopes of securing the best matchups possible

While teams look to put the finishing touches on their regular season slate, there's also the race for the league's Most Valuable Player award, which is seemingly down to the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and three-time winner Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Most NBA fans and experts believe Jokic is in a tier of his own when it comes to the NBA's best as of late. Opinions vary on who the second-best basketball player in the world is, but former Los Angeles Clippers star Lou Williams doesn't think the race is all that close.

"We know what Luka is, and I obviously know what he brings to the table, but when we're talking about this year, SGA has been one of two of the best players in the entire league right now," Williams said.

"So, I don't think that's going to change going into the playoffs, that's not going to change what he's been able to accomplish this year and the way that he's played on both ends of the floor, not just offensively."

Lou Williams picks SGA over Luka Doncic in a playoff series 👀

"Nikola Jokic is probably the only person I would even have a conversation about picking besides SGA going into a playoff series. This is easy for me."@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/A6p6KKcNzy
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 7, 2025

Williams continued his reasoning on choosing Gilgeous-Alexander over Doncic by noting the Thunder's massive 12-and-a-half-game stronghold in the Western Conference.

"If you're asking me to pick one of the two guys, I'm going to pick the guy that's 12-and-a-half-games up and number one based on his abilities and the way that he's been able to play. That's not a slight to Luka Doncic; these things change year by year, and this year, it's been SGA's year to be the best player in the league and possibly our MVP in the next couple of weeks.

"So, if I'm comparing SGA and anybody else except say Jokic out in Denver, that's possibly the only person that I would have a conversation about picking besides him going into a playoff series, and so, this is easy for me, I got SGA for sure."

Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, is undoubtedly having the best season of his career as the presumptive MVP-leader is scoring a league-leading 32.6 points per game to go along with 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest.

Mar 10, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The only competition for the Thunder star's MVP candididacy is Nikola Jokic, who's already a three-time winner of the award, including the reigning back-to-back league's Most Valuable Player. Jokic is currently the only player in the league averaging a triple-double, scoring 30.0 points a night as well as 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game.

Meanwhile, Doncic has had to deal with some nagging injuries coupled with being the centerpiece of the most shocking trade in NBA history just a few short months ago. The Slovenian international is scoring 27.7 points per contest while adding 8.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game with both the Mavericks and Lakers this season.

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